IRVINE, Calif. – Nov. 26, 2008 – Wyoming reported 102 properties with foreclosure filings in October, a 16 percent increase from the previous month, and 104 percent ahead of the level reported for October 2007, according to the latest RealtyTrac® U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.

RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of foreclosure and bank-owned properties, with over 1.5 million properties from over 2,200 counties across the country, and is the foreclosure data provider to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and The Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal.

“Although Wyoming foreclosures increased in October, the state had one of the nation’s lowest home foreclosure rates for in October,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Statistics show that Wyoming currently has the second lowest unemployment rate nationwide, and that its home price appreciation rate was above the national average during the past year. These factors are likely helping to keep foreclosures here relatively low.”

Wyomingranked 44th in the country in total foreclosures reported for the month. With one in every 2,345 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing, its foreclosure rate ranked 38th among the 50 states.

Six counties dominate state’s foreclosure activity for October

Six Wyoming counties accounted for 100 percent of all foreclosure activity in Wyoming for October. LaramieCounty reported the highest number with 51 properties with foreclosure filings for the month. NatronaCounty documented the state’s second highest foreclosure total, reporting 31 properties with foreclosure filings. Third highest was CampbellCounty, reporting 12 properties with foreclosure filings. ParkCounty and Sweetwater counties came in fourth place, each documenting three properties with foreclosure filings, followed by ConverseCounty with two properties with foreclosure filings.

LaramieCounty posts top foreclosure rate for October

LaramieCounty tallied the highest county foreclosure rate in Wyoming for October, with one in every 736 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing for the month — 3.2 times the state average. Natrona County posted the state’s second highest foreclosure rate, with one in every 1,002 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the month — 2.3 times the state average. The third highest foreclosure rate in the state was reported in Campbell County, where one in every 1,194 housing units received a foreclosure filing in October — twice the state average.

State accounts for less than 1 percent of nation’s foreclosure total in October

Wyoming accounted for less than 1 percent of the 279,561 properties with foreclosure filings reported nationwide in October. The national total represented an increase of more than 5 percent from the previous month but was almost 25 percent ahead of the total reported for October 2007. The nation’s foreclosure rate rose to one in every 452 U.S. housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the month.

Report methodology

The RealtyTrac Monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides a count of the total number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing reported during the month — broken out by type of filing at the county, state and national level. RealtyTrac’s report incorporates documents filed in all three phases of foreclosure: Default— Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Auction— Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank). If more than one foreclosure document is filed against a property during the month — which is extremely rare — only the most recent filing is counted in the report. The report also checks if the same type of document was filed against a property in a previous month. If so, and if that previous filing occurred within the estimated foreclosure timeframe for the state the property is in, the report does not count the property in the current month.

For current news and information regarding foreclosure-related issues and trends, check out our blog at www.ForeclosurePulse.com.

Ranked as the third largest real estate site by MediaMetrix, and No. 53 on Inc. magazine’s 2006 Inc. 500 list of the nation’s fastest growing private companies, RealtyTrac Inc. (www.realtytrac.com), is the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, providing all the resources that home seekers, investors and real estate agents need to locate, evaluate and buy properties below market value.

Founded in 1996, RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of pre-foreclosure, foreclosure, For Sale By Owner, resale and new homes, with more than 1.3 million properties across the country, property reports, productivity tools and extensive professional resources. RealtyTrac hosts nearly 3 million unique visitors monthly and has been chosen to supply foreclosure data to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and the Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal. For more information, visit (www.realtytrac.com).

About RealtyTrac

RealtyTrac® is the leading provider of comprehensive housing data and analytics for the real estate and financial services industries, Federal, state and local governments, academic institutions, and the media. Data is aggregated from parcel-level records of more than 125 million U.S. residential and commercial properties and delivered through customizable products including bulk file licensing, APIs and custom reports.